An incredible journey

Chapter 1: The beginning of something unknown

It all started in a small, rustic village, far from big cities and near forests and fields. The villagers went about their activities. Some went to the woods to fetch wood for the fires in their homes. Others went fishing, hunting or ordering their land. All in all, it was very peaceful and idyllic. Birds sang and flew through the air, bees buzzed and flowers, grasses and the like flourished. Every year there was a People's Assembly with the village elders to discuss the events of the year and make decisions. Everyone lived in houses with thatched or wooden roofs, wooden or stone walls and a fire place above which led a hole outside. In one of these houses lived Vetor with his wife Methilda and his children Tim and Lydia. Vetor was a lumberjack and often had to go into the forest to cut down more trees. However, none of the villagers liked to go to the woods. This was because there was a dense fog, many cobwebs and a spooky atmosphere. The further you went into the forest, the less vibrant trees you saw. It was as if a horrible horror lived in this forest, which is why a few guards were stationed near the forest to keep wolves and the like away from the village.

When Vetor went into the forest one day, he went further than ever, as this year's tree growth was very low due to the little rainfall. Even though he was frightened by the atmosphere that prevailed in the forest, he went deeper and deeper into the forest. Whenever he heard a strange, screaming sound, he recoiled. 'Who knows what a monstrosity these sounds may have come from?' Vetor thought to himself and paused for a moment.'Why am I so curious?' he thought, knowing full well that this was a very dangerous undertaking could be. But he just could not help it. It was as if the sounds drew him closer and closer.

The closer he got to the sounds, the louder they became. He kept walking until the sound seemed to come very close. Vetor looked around, but saw nothing. Only dead trees and fog. He looked over the floor, hoping to find something there. Until he suddenly noticed a hole in a tree that the other trees did not seem to have. 'Why is there a hole?' he wondered, moving closer to the hole to better inspect it. In the hole he could roughly make out the figure of something that looked like a baby wrapped in a kind of fur. He hesitated for a moment. 'Should I touch it?' He thought briefly about his family and how sad they would be if he did not come back. But then he moved his hand into the hole and brought out the unknown entity. In the light, Vetor realized that it really was a baby that seemed to sleep. 'How did it get into this tree? Why is it here? Who are the parents?' All these questions shot through Vetor's head. Suddenly there was a scream that seemed to come from very close and sounded like a bear's. Knowing that bears could be very dangerous, he ran with the child in his arms, hoping to reach the village. After all, he could not leave it behind. It was still a child who was very vulnerable.

He ran and ran. It was already dark by now. Vetor luckily arrived at the village and immediately went home to talk with his wife about the incident and the child found.

"Hey, I'm back!" He said as he stepped through the door. Shortly thereafter, his wife came to meet him. "Hey, how was your day?" She led him into the living room, where a fire was burning. There were a few pictures and candles hanging on the walls, a bear carpet on the floor and a few chairs and benches in the room. Vetor sat on the chair opposite of his wife. "You will not believe what happened today..." he began to tell. He told her what he had experienced today. Finally he talked about the child and showed it to her.

"We can not leave it alone.. ..someone has to take care of it.." said Methilda. "I agree with you.. we best let the council of elders decide." Vetor replied.

So Vetor brought the child to the village elders the next day. These immediately called a people's assembly, which led to a great unrest among the villagers, as this had never happened before. "Rest, please!" shouted one. Gradually, the villagers got quieter. "We have come to you because a resident has discovered something strange in the forest.." began one. ".. that is.. ..this kid.." another one finished, holding the child up. Immediately, the villagers began to mumble again. "Rest, please!" cried one again. As it calmed down again, the next one said: "We have decided that somebody needs to take care of this child, as it would be against our faith if we let the child die... ..are there any volunteers?"

Suddenly it was deathly quiet. It seemed that none of the villagers could afford to accept another child. Then Vetor answered: "I would be willing to take the child with me and raise it.." The villagers mumbled briefly and then nodded in agreement. "Well.. ..since it seems that no one disputes, you should henceforth be the father of this child - However, on one condition: if the child does not stick to the village rules, the same punishment threatens as to all the others." Said now the village eldest. Vetor nodded in agreement, whereupon the People's Assembly was dissolved by the village elders.

Afterwards Vetor went home again and told his wife. Unfortunately they did not have any more beds, so he went to get the materials for them.

When he had all the materials, he turned to one of the furniture makers in the village who built the bed for him. He brought this home and put it in an unused room, which should have been the broom closet.

His wife came with the child and put it in the bed. "How do we call it?" he asked. Methilda thought for a moment. "How about 'Grian'?" She dropped the name briefly. "Sounds good," Vetor said. From now on, the child's name was 'Grian'.